Google Brings The Arcade Home

Brandon Van Westen reports:

A staple of arcades and carnivals, skee-ball has enjoyed almost a century of popularity. In recent years, motion-sensitive video game systems such as the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect have been successful.

Google unveiled its own version of skee-ball, Roll It, with a unique twist: A smartphone becomes a motion-sensitive controller. Using a standard web browser, the game requires a smartphone and a computer. Users hold their smartphone and mimic the throwing motion of the popular arcade game. The phone's accelerometer determines the ball's speed, velocity and direction, and the player's throw is shown on the computer screen. Up to three players can play with one phone and computer.

The game is the latest demonstration in a campaign highlighting Google Chrome and its capabilities. While intended for developers, the site showcases other games and demos from many different developers. For more information, visit http://www.chromeexperiments.com/.